Heartland Patriot wrote:I worry about the future of our firearms rights in this state because of the significant number of "economic refugees" streaming in to our urban areas. In the past, there were people who moved to Texas for many reasons and some of them wanted to get away from "stupid laws". But with this economic upheaval, we are getting a LOT of people in here who liked the laws, anti-firearm laws included, just fine where they were at, they just didn't like not having a job (and can't see the connection between the two). I hate to feel this way but it seems they ate themselves out of house and home where they were and now they've come here to do so, as well. And along with that comes their "need" for social services and higher taxes and anti-firearms and anti-self-defense attitudes...I really don't want to have to move north of the Red River...but if this state turns into "California East", or "Chicagoland South", or "NYC West", then what choice will I have? The state of California has a lot of good people...but if they don't live in the Greater SF Bay Area or the LA Basin, they don't get a say...now, can you imagine our state being COMPLETELY run by Houston, Dallas and San Antonio and the people in the smaller cities and towns not really getting a say? I'd rather be a bit over-concerned than to put my head in the sand and say "It can't happen here".fickman wrote:I know Chas isn't calling me out, but all I intended to communicate is that OK seems to be a trendsetter now in true conservative laws, not just in 2nd Amendment legislation. They are also a lot darker red in the shaded maps and seems to get significant bills passed with much less panic and fanfare than we can accomplish.
In our last session, we came so close to having campus carry, which many of us here viewed as a priority. It caused an uproar in the media, the urban areas, and the suburbs. We got the parking lot bill through but with some unfortunate limitations that a lot of us didn't expect. We fought for years to get what we ended up with. We've been told to put our open carry (or Constitutional carry) dreams on hold while we fight tooth and nail for each inch we hope to advance. FWIW, I agree that Texas isn't ready for open carry. . . and that's what I'm lamenting. The stereotype of Texas and its conservatism is not as accurate as those of us in the state would like it to be.
The conservative agenda and values have a lot less resistance in OK than it does in TX. I think our conservatives are as conservative as OKs, but they don't have the mass number of moderates, inconsistent conservatives e.g. NIMBY pro-2Aers-in-name-only, and liberals that we contend with at every intersection.
Unless we find a way to ship Houston to Louisiana, Dallas to Arkansas, and Austin to a granite cave 2,000' below central Texas, we're always going to have an uphill battle and grind to get anywhere.
Thanks to those who've done the legwork to get us where we are.
Well said.